Modi in London

For the first time in 40 years, a British Prime Minister met her Indian counterpart without the overhang, obligations and requirements of the European Union. The Skripal poisoning episode has detracted British domestic attention and muted criticism of their PM Theresa May’s inept handling of Brexit. But there is obviously a different approach. Britain has closed its doors to the kind of liberal immigration Indians have availed of in the past. Instead, Britain seeks improved accessibility of its businesses in India, a copy-paste of the UK-Israel model of tech partnership, lower barriers to commerce in IT, food and drink and life science, and a massive overlay in India of the British National Health Service (NHS) along with its attendant equipment supplier companies.

While the British wait for the barriers to come down or consensus to develop, there is a conscious effort to handhold India’s quest to blend technology with agriculture and medicine. Essentially, London wants to retain its recent trade advantage: the 15 per cent rise in bilateral trade in 2017 was all accounted for by Britain. Clearly, there is a huge dollop of self-interest guiding Britain as it seeks to mould the Commonwealth into a primary tool for engaging with the non-European world. And it doesn’t end at trade. Britain has thrown the baits of a security relationship with a focus on “ensuring freedom of navigation” (the code for anti-China grouping in South China Sea) and assistance in cyber security.    

Most of the focus on R&D is ostensibly in keeping with Britain’s claim as India’s second largest research partner. But a closer look shows the plans to invest £400 million by 2021 are spread too thin. London will retain its salience as a global hub of finance but impetus to other ties will rest on British strategic assistance to India as a UNSC member and incubator of high technology. There has been little cause for cheer on those fronts. Britain is attempting a new turn with India. But it needs to be more proactive and less expectant considering that other competing countries can easily top most of these offers.